Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1890 — FARM PRODUCTS. [ARTICLE]

FARM PRODUCTS.

Interesting and Reliable Statistics QeMfc. ered by the Agricultural PtpsrtmMt The statistical returns of the Department of Agriculture for December give tbe average farm prices of agricultural products by counties, which are consolidated in this office to obtain accurate averages for the several State*. State agents obtain similar estimates, revise and consolidate, and forward State averages. The Department estimates, as published, are made fiom these duplicate ana independent source* of information, which are in remarkable agreement and may be relied Upon as the true measure of value of crops in the hand* of the farmer*. The present corn crop is worth more than the last, and farmers,wili receive more idr it. Unfortunately, districts of failure do not realize their portion of the advance in average value. The avJ erage price, by present returns, is 50.1? cents per bushel, against 28.3 cents for tbe crop of 1889, an increase of 77 percent. 18 is the highest December price of the de-, cade, except that of 1881, the only year in” which the final average of condition was worse than that of the present- season. The average price then rose to 68.6 cents, and that of the following j-earwas 48.4, with a better crop than the present. The next highest avers. 1 age is 44.4, in 1887, following three years large crops and cheap corn. The price* therefore depend upon the quantity grow* in the year plus the reserves from preceding years. The present average show* that small crops are a sure cure for low l prices, and that the law of demand is still the main factor in making prices and profw its. The prices m the seven corn-surplus States are: Ohio, 51 cents; Indiana, 47; Illinois,43;lowa,4l {Missouri, 44; Kansas, 51; Nebraska, 48. j_ The average farm value of the wheat crop, as estimated, is 84 cents per bushel, against 69.8 for 1889, an increase of 20 per oent. on the price of last year. The value; of wheat is affected by the harvests of other countries, as corn is not perceptibly, and, therefore, prices sre notentirely govered by the size of the home-grown crop., For example, the crop of 1885, though smaller than the present one, brought but 77 cents in December, while the crop of 1882, aggregating over 560,000,000 bushels, 1 the second largest ever grown, sold at 881 at the same date. - - - -- The price of oats has responded sharply to the pressure of a small crop and in creased demand because of a short corn crop. The average Is 042.2 cents, against 23 cents last year. It is the highest reported since 1881. An examination- of records shows that abundance or scarcity of corn' materially affects the value of oats, these grains being largely interchangeable in use. Rye, like oats, at 62.9 cents, ishigher than in 1881, and the same is true of barley at 64.8 cents. Buckwheat air 57.7 cents marks an advance over last year, but i* lower than in 1888. | The deficiency in the potato crop ha* caused an advance in value* in all sections es the country; the average is 7.77 cents, an increase of more than 90 per cent, over the prices of the last two years. Returns shonr slightly higher prices for tobaoco to have prevailed since 1887, the average being reported at 7,7 cents per pound. Hay alone of all the farm products, records a decline from last year, the present price being 97.74 per ton, and the slight falling off is due to the increased product.